I'm in for the 200. Gonna take a miracle to finish. I ride about 10-12 hrs per week but I drop off horribly after 4 hours. I'm yet to even finish a road century. These roads are awesome though. My wife's from Emporia so I ride with the High Gear team about once a month when we're up there for a weekend.

I used to also have difficulty getting past about 4-5hrs or so. Turns out I was not eating enough early enough. Eat 200-300 calories every hour starting in the very first hour. Don't wait till you feel hungry. Your body can process about 300 calories or so an hour. Any more than that in your stomach and it will sit there until your body can process it. In the mean time your stomach cramps up and might even shut down. Any less than that and you are cutting yourself short going into the calorie deficit much earlier than needed.

Finding the food my stomach could process over and over literally all day long took me a long time to figure out. For me it eventually turned out to be Powerbars. One of those per hour supplemented occasionally with some extra calories from Clif Bloks as needed can fuel me all day long.

You can't go much past 4hrs on gels alone. At least I can't. I used to try doing that and would hit the wall at about 5hrs. Experiment. Try different foods. But the only way to TRULY know is to do on long 4hr+ training rides now. Eat more frequently early and see what happens.

I can't seem to process calories too well in liquid form so I stick to water. On 100F+ degree days while on the bike for 150+ miles I drink and sweat so much water that I lose a LOT of sodium. For that I pop a Salt Stick capsule every 30 minutes starting from the first hour. The key is to stay ahead of problems instead of reacting once symptoms set in.

This is what works for ME. Everyone is different. Most people I know can survive mostly on liquids with solids supplementing. I am water, Powerbars, and Salt Sticks capsules.

Once you find the food that works for you and you stick to a plan on when to eat and how many calories your body can process per hour then I know you will pop through that 4 hour wall and start riding comfortably 8, 10, 12, and more hours without falling apart. You are probably going to be surprised just how much food you need to eat for a 10hr ride. You should be eating at least every hour if not every 30 minutes.

Tubadude, I second black cross' sentiments: Great advice. I found out through experience that eating is the key (at least for me).

I'll be in the 50, as I truly have no interest in being on a bike all day long (for 100+ miles). I've done multiple rides in the Flint Hills, but never more than 30. Most of the time, I'm coming out of winter, and off of very little seat time, so I'm pretty sure I can do 50 in early summer. I've ridden the Flint Hills when the temp is 100+, and I've had to force myself to "eat through it". My biggest problem is that for the 3 or 4 days after a long, grueling ride I have trouble keeping up with my hunger. I eat like a horse for days.

Good luck out there on a fixie, I respect your moxie. Hopefully you'll get through it in good nick.

Tubadude, I second black cross' sentiments: Great advice. I found out through experience that eating is the key (at least for me).

I'll be in the 50, as I truly have no interest in being on a bike all day long (for 100+ miles). I've done multiple rides in the Flint Hills, but never more than 30. Most of the time, I'm coming out of winter, and off of very little seat time, so I'm pretty sure I can do 50 in early summer. I've ridden the Flint Hills when the temp is 100+, and I've had to force myself to "eat through it". My biggest problem is that for the 3 or 4 days after a long, grueling ride I have trouble keeping up with my hunger. I eat like a horse for days.

Good luck out there on a fixie, I respect your moxie. Hopefully you'll get through it in good nick.